New Identity
by DYlogger
Summary: Match is back, and this time he's not insanely evil.  Well, maybe still somewhat insane.  But not in that way.  For Ryuutchi on LJ


** New Identity **

****

**By: DYlogger for Ryuutchi at JBBS 2010 over on LJ**

* * *

"Nice to see you're back and sane, Match," said Robin, releasing the metaclone from his cell in one of his lairs.

"As you can see, I'm no longer evil. Now can I _please_ go?"

"Not so fast. You're still a criminal to the rest of the world. You're going to need a new identity."

Match rolled his eyes. "Okay, Robin, if you say so. Hey, could you do me a favour and not tell Superboy? He'd get pissed."

"You know he's going to find out, right?"

"Yeah, but I'd prefer to tell him."

Robin laughed at this. "If you don't go to him with the intention to fight him, he's going to kick your ass. It'd be a lot better if someone from the team told him. Especially since one of our teammates recently turned… well, that's not your business."

"Okay," agreed Match, "as a civilian who isn't evil anymore, I respect that."

"We can work on getting you back in shape for now; I can't imagine you're feeling bright and cheery after two weeks in a cell. We can worry about what you're going to do afterward."

"Why not?" shrugged Match.

"You know," said Robin, "I expected you to keep at least _some_ of your old personality, even though you've been dead."

"Let's just get started.

* * *

"Nice to see you've got your speed back, Inertia," said Bart, getting in a sparring ready position.

"You know I'm going to kick your butt in this sparring match, right?" laughed Thaddeus.

"Hey, I let Wally keep you in a cell for a week- you've been weakened enough. It's nice to see you're sane, too," laughed Bart.

"Next time, say that _before_ we do five minutes real-time of banter. Oh, and before we start, I'm going to say there are things that Wally's keeping from you."

Bart rolled his eyes. "Like I don't know that."

"Like the fact that I'm going to infiltrate Deathstroke's Titans East team fpr the Titans even though Wally still doesn't trust me completely."

The current Kid Flash bolted into a standing position, surprised. "Really? Sweet!" The surprise on his face turned into delight. "We're going to be teammates!"

Thad smirked and ran toward his 'brother'. He attempted to kick him, but Bart dodged at what seemed to be the last second.

"Not Impulse anymore, remember?"

"I still play dirty. May the best speedster win."

* * *

"Let me get this right," said Robin, "You want to infiltrate a team of anti-heroes lead by _Deathstroke_, and you want do it as a Superboy Bizzaro?"

"That's what I just said, Rob."

"_Why?_ I thought you wanted to be a civilian now."

Match shrugged. "Well, that was before I found out about Slade's team. Now I want to prove that I actually have self-worth."

"Dude, this is Deathstroke we're talking about. He'll find out within the first hour that you're infiltrating the team."

"Well, I'm stuck either way. I say yes to his proposal and I infiltrate the team because I'm not going evil again. That, and you already know about it. I say no and he kills me."

"True. Well, why tell me?" Robin asked curiously.

"If I don't, you'll think I've gone evil again. And I need to trust somebody, don't you think?"

"You're right. Match, you can't tell anyone else about this. The more people know about this, the bigger chance that Slade finds out."

"No one even knows I'm back," he pointed out, "which proves to be the perfect opportunity."

"You know," mused Robin, "Superboy may be my best friend, but I can't deny that you have more brain cells."

"Is Batman going to find out?"

"He's probably got bigger fish at the moment. But I can keep a secret either way."

* * *

"You told _Batman?_"

"Dude. He's Batman. He would have found out eventually."

Bart facepalmed. "I don't care if Batman can keep any secret. If Batman knows, Deathstroke knows."

"Deathstroke has Batgirl on the team, and she's probably also infiltrating. She'll keep it a secret. Hey, do you know if she's single?"

"Dude, how many teen guys like Batgirl?"

Thad laughed, "A better question would be, 'why don't _you_ like Batgirl?'"

"She scares me."

"Hm. I like danger."

"Well, I have a girlfriend. Don't tell Wally."

Thad raised an eyebrow. "Really. That's a surprise."

* * *

Match had a new name. Eric Stanley Peters wasn't his first choice for a name, but Johnassen Poopenstinzki would attract attention and obviously, Robin didn't want that. He would stay in Gotham for the most part so that the Boy Wonder could keep an eye on him and go to this fancy prep school. Somehow, the kid dressed like a traffic light had gotten him in. He now had blond hair and glasses that would make it look like he had green eyes. For the entire time before he died, he never expected to ever need a secret identity.

The one main difference between Deathstroke's Titans East and Cyborg's Titans was that the Titans East didn't usually hang out as a team. Apparently, Deathstroke had a truce with Nightwing and his Titans were also fighting the forces of evil. However, the clone didn't trust the mercrenary. He stayed on the team because he wanted to prove his self-worth- and he stayed wary in case Deathstroke ever broke the truce. While the leader encouraged team interaction, he refused to give them time to be friends outside of team strategy meetings. He was surprised to see Batgirl on Deathstroke's team at first, but later saw her as a formidable teammate. Unlike his 'brother', his feelings for her were completely platonic.

If the heroes wanted to spend time together just to hang out, though, they would have to use their own time for that. He found himself spending a lot of time with Inertia and just about letting his guard down. Maybe it was because they were both clones of Titans who wanted to make a name for themselves.

* * *

"Wait, so you've been staying with Robin? In Gotham?" asked Inertia.

"How'd you find out?" Match shot back, not even denying it.

"Batgirl told me, and Batman told her."

"I _knew_ Batman would find out. But hey, since we're both spies who are wary of Deathstroke, let's work together!"

"How'd you figure that?"

"Robin told me, and Batman told him."

"That sneaky freak."

"Batman or Robin?"

"Both. You still want to work together?"

"Sure."

And that was the start of a beautiful partnership.


End file.
